Embezzlement in elevator procurement exposed in Mykolaiv

In Mykolaiv, a trial is underway against an official of the city council's housing and communal services department, who is accused of embezzling budget funds. The case concerns the possible overstatement of the cost of elevator equipment during the overhaul of apartment buildings.

This is evidenced by the ruling of the Zavodskyi District Court of Mykolaiv.

According to the investigation, in 2016, passenger elevators manufactured by OJSC Mogilev Elevator Plant (Belarus) were purchased. Earlier examinations established that their cost was about UAH 207-218 thousand excluding VAT, but the total amount of possible overpricing could have reached almost UAH 900 thousand.

At the same time, the newer 2025 expertise showed a much higher market range - from 330 to 440 thousand hryvnias per elevator. Due to these discrepancies between the experts' conclusions, the prosecutor in court insisted on conducting a second comprehensive commodity and economic examination.

The defense team and the defendant did not object, but insisted on involving another expert institution. They also stated that there was no overpricing, and the cost of the equipment was in line with market conditions at the time.

The judge partially granted the prosecutor's motion and ordered a new examination. The experts of the Volyn Branch of the Lviv Scientific Research Institute of Forensic Expertise were commissioned to conduct it.

The experts were asked a number of key questions, including

• determine the real range of market prices for elevators in 2016;
• to find out whether the prices in the concluded contracts were in line with the market
• to establish possible cost deviations;
• assess whether the budget suffered material damage.

The results of the new examination may be decisive for establishing the fact of violations and the further fate of the case.

Also in April, a scheme was uncovered in Pivdenoukrainsk during the repair of heating networks, which resulted in the loss of more than UAH 6 million to the city budget. According to the investigation, the fraud involved the director of the contractor and the chief engineer of the project, who agreed on questionable changes and overestimated the cost of the work.

Анна Бальчінос